Gros Ventre Wilderness: The Granite Hi-Line June 5, 2020
Jun 6, 2020 9:36:29 GMT -8
rebeccad, MTalpine, and 8 more like this
Post by absarokanaut on Jun 6, 2020 9:36:29 GMT -8
I go back to work full time on Monday. Yesterday I only had to do a couple of things at work and left them until after 4:00PM. At 05:30 AM I got in my truck and made the 50 minute drive to the Swift Creek Trailhead on a spur road about 7 miles up the Granite Creek Road in the Bridger-Teton National Forest Southeast of Jackson, WY. My trail of choice for the day was the Granite Hi-Line, and after more than 30 trips up the Southeastern Crest of this terrific path it never disappoints me. It is a great earlier season option that gives you the feeling of "getting up high" much earlier than you can get it elsewhere unless you have an unusually cold day to keep snow firm or enjoy miles of mud with intermittent postholing. With awesome Aspens and glorious groundcover and shrubs these steps are also fabulous in the fall.
I think yesterday, Friday June 5, 2020, was the hottest day of the year, hit about 85 in Jackson and was in the upper 60s mid afternoon up around 8,500'. It was glorious, and I knew we had questionable moist weather moving in for the next 4 days or so so I took advantage of what I could. After a bit of marvelous meditation on Granite Creek at the Swift Creek Confluence I started my +/- 7.75 mile total hike at 07:30 AM. From the Swift Creek Trailhead I walked the 1/4 mile or so across the bridge over Granite Creek that was sturdy about a foot over the rushing runoff of the creek bursting in places; and then up to the Hi-Line "Trailhead" on the other side of the Granite Creek Road.
The trail rises quickly into a beautiful Aspen Grove where the grade levels out a bit with occasional rises before the first creek crossing at about a mile. Here a couple of dozen scattered short switchbacks take you up through a lovely mixed Aspen and Conifer Forest before breaking out into a burn area traversing a drainage now dominated by various willows and shrubs. I was huffing and puffing but turned around every so often to catch the incredible views of high peaks in the Gros Ventre Range across the Granite Creek Valley to the East.
Suddenly I crested the ridge and to the West the magnificent Hoback Peaks and ridgelines of the Wyoming Range drop your jaw yet again. I continued on the trail about a mile before venturing off to the East to find the fainter and fainter "crest" trail that hops a series of beautiful bald knobs that have some of my favorite views in the world. After lingering under an enormous Douglas Fir in a small saddle between two of the knobs for an hour or so I began my way back down to the Hi-Line. After 15 or so minutes back on the trail I heard a canine yelp and started talking to the Aspens. After a couple of more minutes I met a nice young man with his year old Malamute Sled Dog. He'd never been up there before so I gave him a quick overview and then continued on my way. Over decades he was the third group of humans I'd seen on the Hi-Line outside of hunting season.
The Hi-Line is an unequivocal gem overshadowed by the more popular Granite and Swift Creek Trails. I have been enchanted with the Gros Ventre Range since long before it became your Gros Ventre Wilderness. If this is the best hike I have in 2020 I remain an incredibly lucky and fortunate man.
I think yesterday, Friday June 5, 2020, was the hottest day of the year, hit about 85 in Jackson and was in the upper 60s mid afternoon up around 8,500'. It was glorious, and I knew we had questionable moist weather moving in for the next 4 days or so so I took advantage of what I could. After a bit of marvelous meditation on Granite Creek at the Swift Creek Confluence I started my +/- 7.75 mile total hike at 07:30 AM. From the Swift Creek Trailhead I walked the 1/4 mile or so across the bridge over Granite Creek that was sturdy about a foot over the rushing runoff of the creek bursting in places; and then up to the Hi-Line "Trailhead" on the other side of the Granite Creek Road.
The trail rises quickly into a beautiful Aspen Grove where the grade levels out a bit with occasional rises before the first creek crossing at about a mile. Here a couple of dozen scattered short switchbacks take you up through a lovely mixed Aspen and Conifer Forest before breaking out into a burn area traversing a drainage now dominated by various willows and shrubs. I was huffing and puffing but turned around every so often to catch the incredible views of high peaks in the Gros Ventre Range across the Granite Creek Valley to the East.
Suddenly I crested the ridge and to the West the magnificent Hoback Peaks and ridgelines of the Wyoming Range drop your jaw yet again. I continued on the trail about a mile before venturing off to the East to find the fainter and fainter "crest" trail that hops a series of beautiful bald knobs that have some of my favorite views in the world. After lingering under an enormous Douglas Fir in a small saddle between two of the knobs for an hour or so I began my way back down to the Hi-Line. After 15 or so minutes back on the trail I heard a canine yelp and started talking to the Aspens. After a couple of more minutes I met a nice young man with his year old Malamute Sled Dog. He'd never been up there before so I gave him a quick overview and then continued on my way. Over decades he was the third group of humans I'd seen on the Hi-Line outside of hunting season.
The Hi-Line is an unequivocal gem overshadowed by the more popular Granite and Swift Creek Trails. I have been enchanted with the Gros Ventre Range since long before it became your Gros Ventre Wilderness. If this is the best hike I have in 2020 I remain an incredibly lucky and fortunate man.